“One of golf's wisest minds turns 90 this weekend,” writes Cliff Schrock and in doing so acknowledges the 90th birthday of John Jacobs.

Teaching the teachersIn 2006 Jaime Diaz profiled John Jacobs and we’re made aware of the Englishman’s influence on American teachers and swing gurus.

Jaime writes, "John's way cuts through everything because it gets down to the essentials: clubface and path," says Butch Harmon, who requires his assistants to read Jacobs' classic 1972 instruction book, Practical Golf, written with Ken Bowden. "John's stuff is simple and easy to understand because it's right," Harmon says. "It works for every player who ever lived or will live."

And then there’s Jim Hardy who learned to teach under Jacobs at his Practical Golf schools in the 1970s and is quoted as saying, "John's breakthrough was a new way of teaching,"

It also came as a surprise to learn that Hank Haney, one of Tiger’s more successful coaches is on record as saying, "I was very fortunate to work under John Jacobs. He was the greatest teacher in the history of the game."

The “geometry of impact”Jaime Diaz writes, “Supreme ball-strikers from Hogan to Trevino to Singh always let ball flight be their teacher. But Jacobs' model has made it easier for today's players to understand what Jacobs calls, "the geometry of impact."

Today and thanks to Trackman technology it’s easy for teachers to (graphically) show their students their erroneous geometry of impact and confirm that the golf ball doesn’t lie. It’s flight-shape confirmation that it’s the swing plane and geometry of impact that determines their results.

Hogan kept me in businessElsewhere it has been suggested that very many people, myself included have spent many fruitless years in an attempt replicate Hogan’s methodology. Therefore it came as no surprise to read.

“In Jacobs' opinion, Ben Hogan "misdirected" the evolution of the golf swing with his book, The Modern Fundamentals of Golf. "The title was wrong," says Jacobs. "It should have been, How I Play Golf, by Ben Hogan. It was a book about how to cure a hook. It promoted a very weak grip. The words 'supination' and 'pronation' confused a lot of people. And the picture of Hogan halfway down with the shaft almost hitting his right shoulder caused people to try to produce an artificially late hit. At Sandy Lodge, all the women bought it for Christmas, and all it got them was a 50-yard fan-slice. Hogan kept me in business."

“The American disease,” is John Jacob’s label for way that most of us got stuck while attempting to emulate the latest and greatest which included the Golden Bear’s, "rocking and blocking."

Quote of the Day“Jacobs believes that the game has largely gotten past its dark period of misinformation and is again being well taught. He sees an encouraging emphasis on stronger grips than Hogan ever advocated, and a more rotary action back and through the ball than was ever practiced by Nicklaus.” – Jaime DiazQuote of the Day“Jacobs believes that the game has largely gotten past its dark period of misinformation and is again being well taught. He sees an encouraging emphasis on stronger grips than Hogan ever advocated, and a more rotary action back and through the ball than was ever practiced by Nicklaus.” – Jaime Diaz